414 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



the same period at TToolwich a mucli more varied series of deposits was iroiiip: 

 on: advances and recessions of ihe sea causing the pebble-beds (contaimng 

 shells, mostlv vrarerv^-orn. having- l^ieen %vashed tvom inland) and bands of dif- 

 ferent coloured sands wini shell-, some of which having their valves closed 

 show These sands to have been then- foriiuu- habitat. In the pebble-bed (4) 1 

 have found many shells of Cvrena. perhir;;Ted by boring-mollusks — such as the 

 Bucciniun and i'urpiira ; and after searching for some time I was rewarded by 

 findincr a few Buccina, not at all waterv ovn. in fact very _ perfect, proving that* 

 thev also had died where they are now found, their remains lying buried beside 

 those of their victims. These shells also show the preponderance of salt-water 

 durincT the formation of this deposit. 



Land about Peckham now being in request for building-purposes, we shall 

 not long ha^-e an opportunity of examining the strata in that locality. — 

 Er^rrxD Joxes. Islington. 



Mineral AIanure in the Greexsand. — Sir. — Having now, for the first 

 time, come in lv^5^.t■^^i^ln of The Geiilogist, and lindmg it to be a first-rate 

 journal for inteiligi iicc lioth for the tyro and the professor of tliis noble science, 

 I be^r leave to ask the following querv, I have lately either heard or seen in 

 print that the Rev. P. B. Brodie. F.G.S.. of RoAdngton, near War^nck, liad dis- 

 covered a manure in the frreen-sand formation which underlies the chalk, 

 that, if I recoUeci c a'leetly the statement, had fertilizing properties equal to 

 coprohtes. If this be in any way true, I should feel extremely obliged if this 

 intelligent revererid gentleman would communicate to The Geologist the way 

 in vrlileh it Avns dereeted,. and the means whereby it may be procured with 

 pecuniarv advantaire to aa'rieulture : — Yours faithfully, Robert Mortimeii, 

 Pimb T.-^TIiere exists, both in the Lower Greensand and the Upper Green- 

 sand. vr i \' -viierally throughout lioili England and Prance, considerable beds of 

 nodi:!> - i' . Ii- isphate of lime, jierfectly lit for the manufacture of super- 

 pho-^, : , a: ,. for agricultural purposes. These beds have been well known 

 to uc . - f vr mauv years, and have been frequently pointed out in the 

 vieimty of Boulogne,, of Havre, of Polkestone, of Parnhara, in various parts of 

 Sussex, in the Isle of T\lght, and Dorsetshii'e, &c., by Mr. J. C. Nesbit, Pro- 

 fessor Morris, the late Dr. BuckLiud, and myself. Dr. Fitton also noted their 

 occurrence at Polkestone as far back as 1836. In Cambridgeshire those of 

 tlie Upper Greensand have long been profitably and extensively worked for agri- 

 cultural purposes. A'llierever the Lower Chalk, Gault, and Greensand exist, 

 these beds have only to be looked for to be found in greater or less force. 



Beds of phos})hatic nodules also occiet in the Kimmeridge-clay, as weU as in 

 other dcv'-Tsi's. 



A\"c ;u c U' ii aware of the particiLlar instance pointed out by Mr. Brodie, but 

 doubtless that gentleman, an early and respected correspondent of our journal, 

 win respond to Mr. Mortimer's question in our pages. 



The nodules from the Gault, as also those from the Lower Greensand at 

 Polkestone contam from 40 to 15 per cent, of phosphate. Those of the Upper 

 Greenland of that place are very excellent in quality, but small in size ; the 

 vein also is very thin, and consequently not profitable for working. The stratum 

 of nodules at ilic juncTiun of the Gault and Lower Greensand is therefrom 

 eight inelic- to ivcutv inches thick, but rather sandy. — Ed. Geol. 



The Pal.elixtografhkal Society. — Deah Sir, — Has the Palaeonto- 

 grapliical Society Inoken up r 1 see no mention of them m " Kent's Literary Year- 

 Book." ^y\\o pnbhshes or has published their monographs ; and what' is the 

 cost of them: — Yours truly, G. Po^ ler, Derby. — The Palfeontographical Society 

 is, we are happy to say, not defunct, bnt if rumour may be trusted, its teni- 

 porary obscurity is caused by the politeness of Dr. Bowerbank in waiting for 

 Professor Owen. It would however, we thmk, be far better both for the 



